The 55th Santa Clara Parade of Champions will have Rod Diridon times two with the father-and-son duo riding as grand marshals of the Mission City tradition Saturday morning.
Rod Diridon Sr. is a former Santa Clara County Supervisor, widely known as the “Father of Modern Transit” in the South Bay, who also served in the U.S. Navy, worked as a brakeman and a fireman on a freight train and was executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State. He’s currently working on his “fifth career” as a retiree, but he’s still busier than most working guys.
Rod Diridon, director emeritus of the Mineta Transportation Institute and a former Santa Clara County supervisor, is among the panelists slated to speak on green transportation issues at a Sept. 10 environmental summit hosted by local Rotary groups. Diridon is seen here at San Jose’s Diridon Station, which is named after him. (Sal Pizarro/Staff)
Rod Diridon Jr. has a long history with Santa Clara as well, having grown up there and then voted in to the city council and the position of vice mayor. He also was elected for five terms as the city clerk/auditor before he left the city in 2020 to work as Apple’s senior manager for local and state government in the United States. (And there’ll actually be a third Rod Diridon in the parade, as Diridon Sr.’s grandson will be playing trumpet with the Buchser Middle School band.)
They’ll mingle with paradegoers at an 8 a.m. “Meet the Grand Marshals Breakfast of Champions.” The opening ceremonies will start at 10 a.m., with the parade kicking off at 11 a.m. along Monroe Street and ending at Washington St. When the parade is finished, the festival will continue downtown with food trucks and the annual street dance featuring the band Pop Rocks.
Rod Diridon, Jr., Santa Clara city clerk, displays a court docket book for the township of Santa Clara dating from 1850-1852 in the records vault at city hall in Santa Clara Calif. on Monday, Aug. 5, 2013. The book was recently discovered in a home owned by the Hitt family who were employed by the San Jose Mercury Herald. The court records in the book are considered the first official historical documents of the city of Santa Clara. (Gary Reyes/Bay Area News Group)
Ana Vargas-Smith, president of the Santa Clara Parade of Champions, said that in addition to the Diridons, they’re thrilled about having the 49ers as the parade’s presenting sponsors.
“Their support and presence at this 55-year-old historic legacy event will add an extra layer of excitement and pride to our parade, especially following their incredible season as NFC Champions and celebration of the 10-year anniversary of Levi’s Stadium,” Vargas-Smith said.
You can get more information on the parade or buy tickets to the breakfast at www.scparadeofchampions.org.
HEALING ART: After working as a math teacher in Vietnam, Trieu Hai Dao became a landscaper when he brought his wife and two children to the United States in 1987. But Dao, 71, is an artist at heart and created work at night and on weekends for 45 years — amassing a collection of more than 1,000 pieces.
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Over the years, he’s donated more than $20,000 to nonprofits and he’ll be doing that again with his new show, “Echoes of Color,” which opens at the Citadel Art Galley, 199 Martha St., during the South First Fridays art walk on Oct. 4. He’s donating 20% of sales from the show to the local chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) including all the proceeds from his painting, “The Blue Sky for Earth.”
His timing is great, too, as NAMI has its annual Mental Health Walk on Oct. 5 at History Park in San Jose starting at 8 a.m. You can also check out more of Dao’s art on his website, www.daohaitrieu.com.
FALLING INTO FALL: The weather is still stuck on summer, but the Fall Festival at Martial Cottle Park in San Jose is still happening Saturday morning. That’s also where the Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County will be having their Fall Garden Fair, which will include their first-ever seed swap and a plant sale featuring cool-season vegetable, ornamental and native plant seedlings, plus succulents and garlic and shallot bulbs. It’s 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the county park, 5283 Snell Ave.
BULLDOG BRUNCH: Expect a lot of red-and-silver clothing at the Holiday Inn San Jose/Silicon Valley on Sunday, as more than 250 alumni from San Jose High School — ranging from the 1950s to the 2000s — will gather for the “Reunion for the Ages” brunch at the North First Street hotel. Think any Lincoln Lions will have the temerity to crash?
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